Sounder.



no. WOOD.

SOUNDER.

APPLIOATION FILED DEG.11, 1912.

1,1 12,106, Patented Sapt.29,1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

E. 0. WOOD.

SOUNDER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 11, 1913.

Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES) PATENT OFFICE EDWARD U. WOOD, OF SOMEETVILEJE, MASSAUHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO-SUBMABINE SIGNAL COMIANY, O33 VVATERVILLE, MAINE, A OOREORATION OF MAINE.

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To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD C. WOOD, of Somerville, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, a citizen of the United States, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sounders, of which the following is a specification.

In Letters Patent of the United States No. 935,750, there is described a sounder or hell particularly useful in submarine signaling because its end which is usually open is closed by a cap preferably of thinner metal than the bell itself and more particularly than the sound bow which is struck by the clapper and serves as the vibrator. The

closing of the end of the bell forms a watertight chamber within the bell in which the clapper arm and clapper can swing freely without encountering water resistance, and moreover the clapper is able to strike a clear stroke upon the hell, no film of water existing between theclapper and the bell at the instant of impact.

My present invention relates to the attachment of such cap to a bell of preferably otherwise ordinary construction whereby there is interposed between the bell and the cap an insulating rin or gasket so as to reduce to a minimum the transmission of vibration from the bell to the cap. construction as is hereinafter described the bell is enabled to vibrate with a freedom from that damping which was sometimes noticeable in the bell first above referred to where the cap was calked and soldered to the bell and thereis no tendency of the cap to work while the sound bow of the bell is in vibration. The result has proved more satisfactory for submarine work than with the ordinary open bell.

My invention will be understood by reference to the drawings where its best form so far as is now known is shown.

Figure 1 is a vertical section of the device. Fig. 2 is a plan of the cap and. gasket, and Fig. 3 a' detail section showing an end of a binding rod and its connection to the cap.

A is the bell which is of ordinary construction and may be supported in any desirable way. As shown it has an open neck a provided with an outwardlyprojecting flange a which is attached by clamping ringh a to the buoy or casing B, rubber was ersb being provided to prevent metal Specification otictters Patent.

Application filed. December 11, 1912.

By such I Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

Seria11to.736,216.

n s and also to render the joints watertight.

0 is the clapper supported on the end of a suitable clapper arm C which in the form of my invention shown is a bell crank fulcrumed as at c to the support 0 which passes up: through the opening in the neck of the bell, is threaded about its upper end and is held in place by the nut c and screw key 0 Pivotally attached to the short arm of the bell crank is a connecting rod C which rubs up through the support 0 into the buoy creasing B and is there connected to mechanism for operating it such as is now well known in the art. A is the sound bow which forms the end of the bell proper and which the clapper strikes.

D is the cap by which the bell is closed. It is preferably hemispherical in shape and of a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the edge of the bell. Its edge is provided with a groove d of suitable width to hold a rim or gasket E of substantially pure ruber or its equivalent. This groove is preferably provided with projections al which embed themselves in the gasket and hold it in place. This construction is convenient though not always necessary. The lower end of the bell A is provided with a complementary roove d which as shown is not so deep as t e roove d in the cap T). It is also provide preferably with projections 03 like the projections d.

The ring E is substantially cylindrical in cross section and the groove d, groove (1 and sectional diameter of the ring E are so-proportioued that when the ring is clamped to make a watertight joint between the cap and the bell there will be a sufficiently wide portion of the ring exposed outside the metal to allow the sound bow A to vibrate freely, the ring being of su'flicient elasticity to yield with the sound bow as it vibrates without communicating any substantial vibration to the cap. I have found, vfor example, that with a bell about 15 inches outside diameter and of the shape shown in the drawings a ring made of commercially pure rubber, so called, the cross section of which is about an inch in diameter, will give the desired results when the cap is clamped to the hell with suflicient force to make the whole watertight. 4

In order to clamp the cap to the bell, I

prefer to cast in the cap, hollow bosses or internal projections F each of which is perforated to receive a binding rod F Each' rod is! threaded at one end as at f to screw into a threaded hole in the bell near its neck. The other end' of each rod is also threaded as at f to receive a nut f by which the parts are drawn tight, a rubber washer f and a metal-washer f being located between the nut and the opening in the boss to make a watertight closure atthe opening. In addition I prefer to use two metal disks f between Which is a soft rubber washer 7 which are placed in the boss the opening in which is closed by a screw f as shown.

' 'Other means may be used to insure a water- 1 tight joint at these bosses if thought best.

I have shown four binding rods which are so arranged as not to interfere with the free swing o the clapper arm, but this also is merely suggestive as with a larger bell more rods may be desirable.

When a soldered and calked joint as is first above referred to is used, there is al- 4 Ways a tendency of the joint to work loose as the bell changes its shape during its ordinary vibration. F or it will be remembered. that in vibrating, the bell bow becomes oblong with its long axis first extendingdiametrically across the bell from the point where it is struck and then becoming oblong in adirection at right angles thereto, and when the cap is soldered or welded thereto the bow must carry the cap with it and so change the shape of the cap with each change in shape of the bell. In the present construction when the rubber gasket is of proper diameter this change of shape will e taken up by it to a great extent so that the bell will vibrate without undue restraint on the art of the cap, the cap retaining substantia ly its spherical. shape at all times.

The diameter of the rubber ring should be proportioned to the size of the bell and cap to allow this action. The dimensions given above have been found satisfactory.

lVhat I claim as my invention is:

l. The sounder above described comprising a bell, a cap having substantially the same diameter as the bell, and a gasket, said cap being clamped to said bell to form an inclosure and said gasket being located between the edges of said cap and said bell whereby it will allow the vibration in; the

bell and will prevent the leakage of water 'into the said inclosure.

2. The sounder above described comprising a bell and a cap, said bell and said cap each having a groove in its edge, in combination with a resilient gasket located in said grooves, and means for clamping said bell, saiQ cap and said gasket together to form a watertight joint, as set forth.

3. The sounder above described comprising a bell, a ring of resilient material and a cap, said cap and said bell each being provided with means to receive said ring, and means whereby said ring may be clamped between said cap and said bell, a portion of said ring being exposed, whereby in the vibration of said bell a portion only of said r ng will be moved thereby.

4. The sounder above described comprising a bell,-a ring of resilient material and a cap, said cap and said bell each being provided with means to receive said ring, and means comprising binding rods, whereby said ring is clamped between said bell and said cap, one end of each binding rod being attached to said bell, the other end of said rod being attached to said cap.

EDVVAR D C. \VOOD. Vi itnesses Gnonen O. G. COALE, M. E. FLAi-IERTY. 

